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Multisensory Immersion as a Modeling Environment for Learning Complex Scientific Concepts

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Modeling and Simulation in Science and Mathematics Education

Part of the book series: Modeling Dynamic Systems ((MDS))

Abstract

In every aspect of our knowledge-based society, fluency in understanding complex information spaces is an increasingly crucial skill (Dede and Lewis, 1995). In research and industry, many processes depend on peolple utilizing complicated representations of information (Rieber, 1994). Increasingly, workers must navigate complex information spaces to locate data they need, must find patterns in information for problem solving, and must use sophisticated representations of information to communicate their ideas (Kohn, 1994; Studt, 1995). Further, to make informed decisions about public-policy issues such as global warming and environmental contamination, citizens must comprehend the strenghts and limitations of scientific models based on multivariate interactions. In many academic areas, students’ success now depends on their ability to envision and manipulate abstract multidimensional information spaces (Gordin and Pea, 1995). Fields in which students struggle with mastering these types of representations include mathematics, science, engineering, statistics, and finance.

The power of technology to change one’s intellectual viewpoint is one of its greatest contributions, not merely to knowledge, but to something even more important: understanding … it goes beyond the limits of human perception.

Arthur C. Clark, Technology and the Limits of Knowledge

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Authors
  1. Chris Dede
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  2. Marilyn C. Salzman
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  3. R. Bowen Loftin
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  4. Debra Sprague
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. BBN Technologies, GTE Internetworking, 10 Moulton Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA

    Wallace Feurzeig

  2. Lesley College, 29 Everett Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138-2750, USA

    Nancy Roberts

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© 1999 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Dede, C., Salzman, M.C., Loftin, R.B., Sprague, D. (1999). Multisensory Immersion as a Modeling Environment for Learning Complex Scientific Concepts. In: Feurzeig, W., Roberts, N. (eds) Modeling and Simulation in Science and Mathematics Education. Modeling Dynamic Systems. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-1414-4_12

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-1414-4_12

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-7135-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4612-1414-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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